Do you what Buckyballs are?

Using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers were able to detect Buckyballs – carbon atoms in the form of hollow spheres – 6,500 light years away. Buckyballs (full name buckministerfullerene) were named after scientist found a resemblance in their form to architect Buckminister Fuller's geodesic domes.

They were previously observed floating freely in their gaseous form and are under investigation for a vast range of industrial uses. The work shows that buckyballs are more common in space than thought earlier and could be an important source of the building blocks of life – carbon.